To realise AI’s positive and transformative potential for African development and mitigate potential risks, it is imperative to build the necessary capabilities. These range from sustained investment in infrastructure (reliable and efficient electricity, broadband connectivity, data infrastructure like data centre and cloud, and computing power) to huge sets of quality data, education and skills in AI, media and information literacy (MIL), research and innovation. Africa also needs to build a vibrant and inclusive AI start-up enterprise ecosystem that develops and implements social and economic applications and systems.